Improved dispensing system for blended frozen food compositions

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for dispensing soft serve frozen food product, such as soft serve ice cream and the like, provides the ability to select the fat content or other characteristic of the ice cream dispensed from the machine.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application relates to Provisional Application No. 462,700 of JohnHarra filed Apr. 15, 2003 entitled “Apparatus for making, storing anddispensing soft ice cream and alike [sic].”

This application is a continuation-in-part of International ApplicationNo. PCT/US20004/011484 of John Harra filed Apr. 13, 2004, entitled“APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING, STORING, AND DISPENSING SOFT SERVE FROZENFOOD PRODUCT.”

This application is a continuation-in-part of both of those applicationsidentified above. Applicant hereby incorporates by reference into thisapplication the entirety of the two applications identified above.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to soft serve frozen food compositions such asice cream and frozen yogurt. More particularly, this disclosure relatesto the dispensation of blended frozen food compositions.

BACKGROUND

Current soft serve ice cream machines are only able to serve two flavorsof soft serve ice cream, such as vanilla and chocolate, and acombination of those two flavors, the so-called “twist.” Moreover, thereis no convenient way to provide additional flavors of ice cream suppliedby the machine or to change or control the fat content, overrun, orother characteristics of the ice cream dispensed from the machine. Therealso is no way to add any additional ingredients, such as nuts, candies,toppings, sauces, whipped cream, variegates, sodas, and other flavoringsor mix-ins, to the basic ice cream provided by the machine, except bymanually adding such ingredients to the ice cream after it has beendispensed from the machine.

SUMMARY

A single soft serve dispensing apparatus selectively provides a blendedice cream product having a desired fat content and/or overrun, amultitude of flavors, and large ranges of selected additives typicallyprovided by a multiplicity of separate dispensing apparatus and a greatdeal of manual labor after dispensation of the product from therelatively limited capability machines available today.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an illustrative embodiment of asoft serve dispensing apparatus having one blending head assembly.

FIG. 1A-1D show details of an example of a specific implementation of asoft serve dispensing apparatus having one blending head assembly.

FIGS. 1BA-1BI are detailed diagrams of some of the parts shown in FIGS.1B and 1C.

FIG. 1E shows the details of examples of the pistons used in theapparatus of FIGS. 1A-1D.

FIG. 1F shows the details of an example of a flavor valve block used inthe apparatus of FIGS. 1A-1D.

FIG. 1FA is a detail drawing of the flavor valve block of FIGS. 1B-1D.

FIGS. 1G-1J show the details of an example of a dispensing head assemblyused in the apparatus of FIGS. 1A-1D.

FIGS. 1HA-1HD are sectional views of the dispensing head assembly ofFIGS. 1B-1D.

FIG. 1HE is a detail drawing of the variegate plungers used in thedispensing head assembly.

FIGS. 1K-1N show another example of a dispensing head assembly that canbe used in the apparatus of FIGS. 1A-1D.

FIGS. 1O-1R shows the details of two examples of a whipped cream supplysystem useful in the apparatus of FIGS. 1A-1D.

FIGS. 2 and 2A are schematic block diagrams of illustrative embodimentsof a soft serve dispensing apparatus having two blending headassemblies.

FIGS. 2B-2F show details of an example of a specific implementation of asoft serve dispensing apparatus having two blending head assemblies.

FIGS. 3A-3B are schematic block diagrams of two illustrative examples ofa soft serve dispensing apparatus having four blending head assemblies.

FIGS. 4A-4B are schematic block diagrams of two illustrative examples ofa soft serve dispensing apparatus having eight blending head assemblies.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows an example of a multi-component soft serve dispensingsystem in which various ingredients can be combined to form a widevariety of soft serve frozen food products. The dispensing systemcomprises a number of soft serve processing and storage loops, each ofwhich may be like the one disclosed in the co-pending PCT Applicationidentified above.

The system of FIG. 1 comprises a loop 10 that provides no fat contentsoft serve food product, for example, vanilla flavored soft serve icecream. The loop 10 comprises a pipe 10 a, a positive displacement pump10 b, a pipe 10 c, an emulsification barrel 10 d, a pipe 10 e, and aflow-through valve assembly 10 f connected in series to form a closedloop. Not shown in FIG. 1, but disclosed in the aforementioned PCTApplication, is a mix supply that can deliver unfrozen no fat soft servemix into the loop 10 where the mix is frozen, emulsified in theemulsification barrel 10 d, and continuously pumped in a closed loop bythe pump 10 b. The flow-through valve assembly 10 f has two states, aflow-through position and a dispensing position. In the flow-throughposition of the valve assembly 10 f, the loop 10 is closed and frozenfood product continuously circulates in the loop 10. In the dispensingposition of the valve assembly 10 f, the soft serve food product in theloop 10 is pumped into a pipe 10 g and delivered to a blending headassembly 18.

The apparatus of FIG. 1 also contains another processing and storageloop 12 that provides high fat content frozen food product of the sameflavor as that provided by loop 10, for example, high fat contentvanilla ice cream. Like loop 10, the loop 12 similarly comprises a pipe12 a, a positive displacement pump 12 b, a pipe 12 c, an emulsificationbarrel 12 d, a pipe 12 e, and a flow-through valve assembly 12 fconnected in series to form a closed loop. The loop 12 is supplied withhigh fat unfrozen soft serve mix from a supply like the one thatsupplies no fat mix to loop 10. After it has been introduced into loop12, the mix is frozen, emulsified in the emulsification barrel 12 d, andcontinuously pumped in a closed loop by the pump 12 b. Like theflow-through valve assembly 10 f, the flow-through valve assembly 12 fhas two states, a flow-through position and a dispensing position. Inthe flow-through position of the valve assembly 12 f, the loop 12 isclosed and frozen food product continuously circulates in the loop 12.In the dispensing position of the valve assembly 12 f, the soft servefood product in the loop 12 is pumped into a pipe 12 g and delivered toa blending head assembly 18, where the high fat content food productfrom loop 12 is blended with the no fat content food product from loop10 to produce a blended frozen food product having a fat content betweenthe fat contents of the food products from loops 10 and 12. For example,vanilla soft serve ice cream having a desired fat content between zeroand the percentage fat content of the food in the loop 12 may beproduced depending on the relative amounts of food product from loops 10and 12 that are introduced into the blending head 18. The amounts of nofat and high fat food can be introduced into the blending head 18 bysimultaneously opening the flow-through valve assemblies 10 f and 12 fto their dispensing positions and controlling the relative speeds of thepumps 10 b and 12 b. Alternatively, one of the valve assemblies may beopened until a predetermined amount of food has been introduced into theblending head assembly 18; then that valve assembly is closed and theother valve assembly is opened until a predetermined amount of the otherfood product is added to that already in the blending head assembly 18.

While the food from the loops 10 and 12 is being mixed in the blendinghead assembly 18, one or more of a plurality of flavorings may beintroduced into the mixture in the assembly 18 from a flavoring supply19 via a pipe 19 a connected to an input port in the assembly 18. In oneexample of the invention, an unflavored or vanilla flavored basematerial can be supplied from one or both of the loops 10 and 12 and adesired flavoring can be introduced into the base material from theflavoring supply. Although a single flavoring supply 19 and supply pipe19 a is shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of separate supplies selectivelydelivering one of a plurality of different flavors to separate inputports on the blending head assembly 18 may be provided so that a numberof different flavors of soft serve food product may be dispensed fromthe machine depending on which flavoring has been introduced into thebase material from one or more of the loops 10 and 12.

The ingredients in the blending head assembly 18 may be mixed to anydesired degree of homogeneity. For example, the ingredients mayintimately mixed to form a completely homogeneous product.Alternatively, the ingredients may be mixed less intimately to givemarbleizing effects to the finished product.

After the food in the blending head assembly 18 has been mixed in theblending head assembly 18 to a desired degree of homogeneity, thecontents of the blending head assembly 18 are directed through a pipe 20to a dispensing head assembly 22 where it is dispensed from the machine.As the soft serve food product is dispensed from the dispensing headassembly 18, various other ingredients may be added to the soft servefood product. To accomplish this, the apparatus of FIG. 1 includes anumber of ingredient supplies connected to input ports in the dispensinghead assembly. FIG. 1 shows a whipped cream supply 24 connected to aninput port via a supply line 24 a, a particulate supply 26 connected toan input port of the dispensing head assembly 22 via a supply line 26 a,and a variegate supply 28 connected to an input port of the dispensinghead assembly 22 via a supply line 28 a. Examples of particulates thatmay be introduced into the soft serve food dispensed from the assembly22 include, for example, nuts, fruits, and candies. Examples ofvariegate materials that may be introduced into the soft serve fooddispensed from the assembly 22 include, for example, various fruitcondiments and butterscotch and chocolate flavored toppings that may beswirled, streaked, or twisted into the dispensed product. Although onlyone whipped cream, particulate, and variegate source is shown in FIG. 1,multiple such sources may be connected to respective input ports on thedispensing head assembly 22 to provide the ability to provide more thanone type of each ingredient to the dispensed product. For example, theremay be separate sources for nuts, candies, and fruits, separate sourcesfor different flavored sauces, and separate sources of different flavoror fat level whipped creams. As described below, additional streams ofsoft serve food product may also be introduced into the soft serve foodproduct in the dispensing head assembly 22 coming from the loops 10 and12.

FIG. 1A is an isometric view of a specific implementation of theapparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. 1A shows an illustrative spatial arrangementof the elements shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1A, parts corresponding toitems shown in FIG. 1 have the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1.FIG. 1A shows the connection of the loops 10 and 12 to the blending headassembly 18 and the connection of the blending head assembly 18 to thedispensing head assembly 22.

As described below, the soft serve dispensing apparatus comprises aseries of pistons that are moved within cylindrical passages by linearactuators such as stepper motors. Any form of actuator or motor thatproduces linear motion may be used to drive the pistons in theirrespective passages. A particularly advantageous example of such motiveapparatus is a stepper motor having a threaded output shaft that isscrewed to a threaded nut at the proximal end of the piston. Thecircumferences of the pistons are sealed to the interior surfaces of thepassages through which they travel by means of appropriately situatedo-rings. An o-ring gland width that is larger than the cross-sectionaldiameter of its associated o-ring allows the o-ring to slide along itsrespective piston while keeping the seal tight when its associatedpiston is driven by its linear actuator. This allows for a more thoroughclean-in-place (CIP) treatment. As alluded to above, the pistons mayhave internal threading cooperating with threaded output drive shafts ofthe linear actuators. This arrangement reduces the length of the driveshaft on a stepper motor or linear actuator, which reduces the overallsize of the machine. The pistons also have narrow cross section waistareas in the center areas of the pistons, which allow fluids to pass bywith less restriction facilitating ice cream flow and the CIPprocedures.

Each of the valve assemblies 10 f and 12 f comprises a pipe containing apiston which is movable between a flow-through position and a dispenseposition. The piston in the valve assembly 10 f is driven by a linearactuator 23 a which may be a stepper motor. The piston in valve assembly12 f is driven by a linear actuator 23 b which also may be a steppermotor. The stepper motors have threaded output shafts that extend intothreaded openings in the ends of the pistons. Rotation of the outputshaft of each of the stepper motors is converted into linear motion ofits respective rotationally stationary piston through the action of thethreads on the output shaft on the motor and the threads on the piston.O-rings on the pistons seal the circumferences of the pistons to theinteriors of their respective pipes through which they travel. Theseseals prevent the pistons from rotating when they are driven by theirrespective linear actuators. The rotational motion of the output shaftsof the linear motors thus is converted into linear movement of thepistons because of the threads on the output shafts engaging the threadson the pistons.

In the flow-through position of valve assembly 10 f in FIG. 1A, thepipes 10 a and 10 e are directly connected together and pipe 10 g isblocked so that the loop 10 is closed and soft serve food productcirculates in the loop 10; in the dispense position of valve assembly 10f, the piston blocks the pipe 10 a and opens pipe 10 g. The pump 10 bpumps soft serve food product from the loop 10 into pipe 10 g and intothe blending head assembly 18 when the valve assembly 10 f is in thedispense position. The operation of all the other flow-through valveassemblies in the embodiments described here operate in a mannersubstantially similar to that of the flow-through valve assembly 10 f.

A transfer-pipe system enables the creation of ice creams and other softserve products having selectable fat content. The transfer-pipe systemenables the movement of multi-fat content ice cream to a chamber to beuniformly flavored or marbleized with flavoring and then the movement ofthe flavored ice cream to a dispensing head for final serving. Thetransfer-pipe system also enables clean-in-place (CIP) processes to beapplied to all components that contact food. The transfer-pipe systemcan be arranged in multiple units to increase amounts of flavors and therate of servings per hour. The connections between the loops 10 and 12and the blending head assembly 18 and the connections between theblending head assembly 18 and the dispensing head 22 are effectuated bya transfer-pipe system that can be selectively configured to provideflow paths between the flow-through valves 10 f and 12 f in the loops 10and 12 to the blending head assembly 18 and from the blending headassembly 18 to the dispensing head 22. The piping system includes anumber of pistons driven by linear actuators that are movable within thepipes making up the piping system to assist in propelling the soft servefood product between the flow-through valves 10 f and 12 f and theblending head assembly 18 and also from the blending head assembly 18 upto and through the dispensing head assembly 22. This arrangement ofpistons also is used to selectively block certain passages in the pipingsystem so that all of the frozen food product introduced into the systemis delivered to the blending head assembly 18 and then to the dispensinghead assembly 22 and out of the machine. There is also a piston and pushplate arrangement in the blending head assembly 18 that ejects theblended soft serve product from the blending head assembly 18 toward thedispensing head once the processing performed by the blending headassembly 18 is completed. As described in more detail below, this pistonand push plate assembly is also used to obtain a uniform and intimatemixture of the contents of the blending head assembly 18.

FIGS. 1B, 1C, and 1D are respectively more detailed front, side, and topviews of the apparatus of FIG. 1A. FIG. 1BA is an enlargement of theblending head assembly of FIG. 1B which will facilitate an understandingof the operation of the apparatus of FIGS. 1B-1D. These Figuresillustrate the operations of the pistons in the apparatus of FIG. 1A.They also show details of the blending head assembly 18 and thedispensing head assembly 22.

FIGS. 1B, 1C, and 1D show the previously described valve assembly 10 f,no fat supply pipe 10 e, no fat return pipe 10 a, and valve assemblyoutput pipe 10 g. FIGS. 1C and 1D show the previously described valveassembly 12 f, high fat supply pipe 12 e, high fat return pipe 12 a, andvalve assembly output pipe 12 g.

The valve assembly 10 f comprises a hollow tube containing a piston 200driven axially through the tube by a linear motor 23 a. The output shaftof the linear motor 23 a is threaded into a threaded opening in aproximal end of the piston 200. The piston 200 has a large diameterproximal end connected to large diameter distal end by a smallerdiameter waist portion. Flexible o-rings seal the proximal and distalends of the piston 200 to the interior of the hollow tube; the o-ringsalso prevent the piston from rotating in the hollow tub when the piston200 is driven through the tube by the linear actuator 23 a. The valveassembly 12 f contains a similar piston 201 that also slides in a hollowtube and is moved through the tube by a linear screw drive like that ofthe piston 200.

The valve assembly 10 f is shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C in the dispenseposition. Specifically, the distal end of the piston 200 blocks thesupply pipe 10 e from communicating with the return pipe 10 a. The softserve food product circulating in the loop 10 is thus diverted into thevalve assembly output pipe 10 g. Similarly, the valve assembly 12 f isshown in FIG. 1C in the dispense position. (In FIG. 1D the valveassembly 12 f is shown in the flow-through position.) In the dispenseposition, the distal end of piston 201 blocks the supply pipe 12 e fromcommunicating with the return pipe 12 a and food product is divertedinto the valve assembly output pipe 12 g.

The actuator 23 a may drive the piston 200 upwardly in FIGS. 1B and 1Cto a flow-through position. In this position, the distal end of thepiston 200 blocks the output pipe 10 g from the supply pipe 10 e and thenarrow waist portion of the piston 200 allows food product to flow fromthe supply pipe 10 e to the return pipe 10 a. This closes loop 10; thefood product continues to circulate in loop 10 and is blocked from therest of the elements of FIGS. 1A-1D when the valve assembly 10 f is inthe flow-through position. Similarly, the actuator 23 b may drive thepiston 201 to the left in FIG. 1C (downwardly in FIG. 1D) to aflow-through position shown in FIG. 1D. In this position, the distal endof the piston 201 blocks the output pipe 12 g from the supply pipe 12 eand the narrow waist portion of the piston 201 allows food product toflow from the supply pipe 12 e to the return pipe 12 a. This closes loop12; the food product continues to circulate in loop 12 and is blockedfrom the rest of the elements of FIGS. 1A-1D when the valve assembly 12f is in the flow-through position.

FIGS. 1B and 1C illustrate the details of a typical blending headassembly useful in implementation of a dispensation apparatus. Theblending head assembly enables different fat content ice creams to beblended to achieve an intermediate fat content level. It also enablesthe creation of numerous separate flavors of soft serve foods. Theblending head assembly also enables the creation of Extra Light versionsof any butterfat content soft serve product by adding more over-run gasat the blending head assembly prior to dispensing. The blending headassembly also enables flavoring agents and soft serve food product to beeither completely mixed with a homogeneous appearance, or partly mixedwith a marbleized appearance. Multiple blending head assemblies may beused to increase amount of flavors and the rate of servings per hour.Finished ice cream is transported from the blending head assembly towarda dispensing head assembly where it exits the machine. The blending headassembly is configured for CIP processes.

The blending head assembly 18 in FIGS. 1B-1D comprises a flavor valveblock 202, a blending barrel 203 mounted on top of the flavor valveblock 202, a bearing housing 204 mounted on top of the blending barrel203, a piston shaft housing 205 mounted on top of the bearing housing204, and a linear actuator 206 mounted on top of the housing 205. FIG.1BB are detailed views of the blending barrel 203 in FIGS. 1B and 1C.FIGS. 1B and 1C show that the blending head assembly is capped at oneend by a top retainer plate and at the other end by a bottom retainerplate. FIGS. 1BC and 1BD are detailed views of the top and bottomretainer plates shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C.

The flavor valve block 202 is a cylindrical element having an axiallydisposed input/output passage 202 a connected to the trans-pipe systemthat transports the frozen food product from the loops 10 and 12 to theblending head assembly 18. Frozen food product flows through the passage202 a into a cylindrical mixing chamber 203 a in the blending barrel203. When the food product has been blended to a desired level ofhomogeneity in the mixing chamber 203 a, it is then pushed out of theblending head assembly 18 through passage 202 a in the flavor valveblock 202.

The flavor valve block 202 has a plurality of radially directedflavoring input ports 202 b formed in the side wall of the flavor valveblock 202. The flavoring input ports 202 b are connected to the mixingchamber 203 a through an end face of the flavor valve block 202. Thereis a spring biased valve assembly 202 c between each input port 202 band the mixing chamber 203 a. The springs normally bias the valvesassemblies 202 c to close off the mixing chamber 203 a from theflavoring input ports 202 b. When flavoring under sufficient pressure isintroduced into an input port 202 b, the bias of the valve spring isovercome thereby opening the valve assembly 202 c, connecting the inputport 202 b to the mixing chamber 203 a, and admitting the flavoring intothe mixing chamber 203 a. In this way a selected one or more flavoringsmay be added to the frozen soft serve food product pumped from one orboth of the loops 10 and 12 into the blending head assembly 18. Inaddition to flavorings, a controlled amount of overrun gas mayintroduced through one of the valves in the flavor valve block 202 intothe soft serve food product in the mixing chamber 203 a as it is beingblended by the blending head assembly 18. Food coloring may also beintroduced into soft serve food product via the flavor valve block 202.Any color can be achieved in the finished product if selective amountsof red, green, and blue food coloring are introduced into the finishedproduct from red, green, and blue coloring supplies each connected to arespective input port 202 b. Similar results can be achieved withmagenta, cyan, yellow, and black coloring. A soda beverage may also beblended with soft serve food product in the blending head assembly tomake an ice cream soda and other products such as frappes, malted, (withthe addition of malt flavoring), floats, frizzes, smoothies, shakes, eggcreams, and freezes. The ice cream soda is then dispensed into acontainer. An additional portion of ice cream may then be dispensed ontop creating an ice cream float.

As shown more clearly in FIG. 1F, the valve assemblies 202 c in theflavor valve block 202 are lubricated by supplying sterilizing foodgrade lubricant, such as mineral oil containing iodine, to a lubricantinput port 202 d. As shown in FIG. 1F, the lubricant enters the inputport 202 d, travels around the circumference of the flavor valve block202, bathes the central portions of all the valve stems around theflavor valve block 202, and exits from the flavor valve block 202 at alubricant exit port 202 e. Radially directed holes 202 f are drilledthrough the flavor valve block 202 to points between the passages inwhich the valve stems are located to provide a circumferential path 202g between the lubricant input port 202 d and the lubricant output port202 e so that lubricant can flow to all of the valve stems in the flavorvalve block 202. The holes 202 f are all plugged to prevent lubricantfrom flowing out of the holes 202 f.

FIG. 1FA shows perspective and sectional views of the flavor valve block202. It shows the details of a plurality of flavor input ports 202 beach of which can be connected to respective sources of differentflavorings, supplies of overrun gas, food colorings, or otheringredients for introduction into soft serve food product being mixed inthe mixing chamber 203 a. FIG. 1FA also shows one of the flavor outports that communicate with the mix chamber 203 a. FIG. 1FA also showslubrication passages 202 d and one of the lubrication holes that connectthe lubrication passages to the valve passages in the flavor valve block202. As can be seen here, a large number of different kinds of softserve food product can be created in a single machine using a flavorvalve block like the one in FIG. 1FA. The only limitation is the spacethat is available for the provision of flavor input ports around theoutside of the flavor valve block 202.

The contents of the mixing chamber 203 a are mixed by a rotatable mixshaft 203 b that extends from the piston shaft housing 205 through a setof ball bearings 204 a in the bearing housing 204 and into the mixingchamber 203 a. The mix shaft 203 b is driven by a motor 207 mounted tothe bearing housing 204. A timing belt 207 a connects a pulley 207 b onthe output shaft of the motor 207 to another pulley 207 c on one end ofthe mix shaft 203 b. Alternatively, a gearing arrangement, a chaindrive, or a direct drive arrangement can be used to connect a drivemotor to the mix shaft 203 b. A larger diameter circular end plate 203 cis attached to other end of the mix shaft 203 b in the mixing chamber203 a. A plurality of axially extending blending rods 203 d displaced atvarious radii with respect to the axis of rotation of the mix shaft 203b are attached to the end plate 203 c. The blending rods 203 d revolvearound the axis of rotation of shaft 203 b and mix the contents of themixing chamber 203 a when the shaft 203 b is rotated by the motor 207.The blending rods 203 d are situated at different radii to achieveuniform mixing in the chamber 203 a.

The blending head assembly 18 contains a push plate and piston whichtogether create a double acting piston system that aids in mixing thevarying fat content ice creams and flavorings into a homogeneous singlefat content ice cream that can have numerous flavors. The double actingpiston system also is instrumental in forcing the ice cream out of theblending barrel toward the dispensing head assembly. In this regard, themixing chamber 203 a contains a disc shaped push plate 203 e that slidesaxially in the chamber 203 a along the blending rods 203 d. The pushplate 203 e normally is pushed to the top of the mixing chamber 203 awhen the chamber 203 a is filled with soft serve food product. The pushplate 203 e may be pushed downwardly in the mixing chamber 203 a by theapplication of pressurized fluid to an inlet port 203 f. This action isused to push blended soft serve food product from the mixing chamber 203a into the passage 202 a and out of the blending head assembly 18.

FIG. 1BE show details of the push plate 203 e in the mix chamber 203 ain the blending head assembly. The push plate 203 e slides axially inthe mix chamber 203 a along the blending rods 203 d, shown in detail inFIG. 1BF, which extend through holes shown in FIG. 1BE. The push plate203 e also contains a passage through the center to accommodate thepiston 208. The blending rod 203 d are screwed to the end plate 203 c ofthe mix shaft 203 b, as shown in FIG. 1BG. The mix shaft is rotatableand passes through a set of bearings 204 a in a bearing housing 204, asalso shown in detail in FIGS. 1BG and 1BI. A shown in FIGS. 1BG and 1BH,the mix shaft 203 b contains a passage for piston 208. The passagecontains o-rings that seal the piston 208 to the inside of the passageand allow the mix shaft 203 b to rotate with respect to the rotationallystationary piston 208. FIG. 1BH shows that the blending rods 203 c arespaced at different distances from the axis of rotation of the mix shaft203 b to provide uniform mixing of soft serve food product in the mixchamber 203 a.

The linear actuator 206 is screwed to threads in the interior of a drivepiston 208 that coaxially extends through the piston shaft housing 205,the mix shaft 203 b, the end plate 203 c, and the push plate 203 e. Thestructure of the blending head mix shaft 203 b enables the lubricationof the piston 208 which is guided through the hollow center of the shaft203 b. The piston 208 is used to push the last of the soft serve foodproduct from the mixing chamber 203, through the passage 202 a, and outof the blending head assembly 18.

As shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C, the dispensing apparatus also contains alinear actuator 209 that drives a piston 210 that is used to push softserve food product through the passage 202 a into the mixing chamber 203a. The piston 210 also closes the mixing chamber 203 a from the passage202 a when the mixing chamber 203 a contains and is blending soft servefood product.

When food product is being mixed in the chamber 203 a, there is atendency for the food product to remain relatively stationary close tothe axis of rotation of the mix shaft 203 b and therefore noteffectively mixed. This problem can be alleviated by oscillating thepiston 210 up and down in the passage 202 a in unison with the piston208 and/or push plate 203 e while the blending fingers are rotated inthe mixing chamber 203 a. This tends to move the material out of thecenter of the mixing chamber 203 a to the outside of the chamber 203 aand thus provides more uniform mixing.

The apparatus of FIGS. 1B-1D also contains additional pistons 211 and212, both of which are internally threaded and screw driven by linearactuators 213 and 214, respectively. Piston 211 is used to push softserve food product through pipe 215 toward either the blending headassembly 18 or the dispensing head assembly 22 depending on the positionof pistons 208 and 212. Piston 211 is also used to block food productfrom backing up toward the flow-through valves assemblies 10 f and 12 fand the loops 10 and 12 once the food product enters the system of FIGS.1B-1D. Piston 212 is used to block unblended food product from beingdriven to the dispensing head assembly.

When the piston 208 is in the position shown in FIGS. 1B and 1D and thepiston 212 is moved to the right until the distal end face of the piston212 is flush with the inside surface of the passage 202 a, driving thepiston 211 to the left will push any soft serve food product pumped intothe pipe 215 from the loops 10 and 12 through the pipe 215 and into thepassage 202 a. Once the distal face of the piston 211 is flush with theinterior surface of passage 202 a, the piston 210 may be screw drivenupwardly by linear actuator 209 to push any food product in the passage202 a into the mixing chamber 203 a. When the piston 208 is screw drivenby the linear actuator 206 downwardly into the passage 202 a so that thedistal end face of the piston 208 is flush with the interior surface ofthe pipe 215 and the piston 212 is in the position shown in FIGS. 1B and1D, driving the piston 211 by the linear actuator 213 to the left inFIGS. 1B and 1D will push any soft serve food product in the pipe 215toward the dispensing head assembly 22 and out of the machine throughexit passage 216. Once the distal end face of the piston 211 is flushwith the interior surface of the exit passage 216, a piston 217 screwdriven by a linear actuator 218 is lowered to completely push the lastof the soft serve food product out of the passage 216.

FIG. 1E shows details of typical pistons 800 and 801 used in all theembodiments described here. Piston 800 is used as part of the doubleacting piston system in the blending head assemblies. See, for example,piston 208 in FIG. 1B. Piston 801 is used elsewhere in the describedembodiments. Piston 800 comprises reduced diameter shaft; piston 801′has a larger diameter shaft at the proximal end of the piston 801connected to a reduced diameter shaft like the reduced diameter shaft ofpiston 800. Both pistons 800 and 801 have an internally threaded nut attheir proximal ends for receipt of externally threaded output shafts ofrespective linear actuators, such as linear actuators 206 and 209 inFIG. 1B. The piston shafts have interior voids for receipt of therespective output shafts of the linear actuators. The distal ends ofboth pistons 800 and 801 have o-rings secured to the pistons 800 and 801near the proximal end faces of the pistons 800 and 801. O-ring glandseach comprising two axially displaced circumferential ribs around thedistal ends of the pistons 800 and 801 secure the o-rings to thepistons. The ribs are spaced apart a distance greater than the diameterof the o-rings such that the o-rings slide back and forth between theribs when the pistons are moved back and forth in the passages throughwhich they slide. Wide o-ring glands like the ones noted at the distalends of pistons 800 and 801 should be used wherever o-rings of pistonscome in contact with food. A wider o-ring gland enables thoroughcleaning and sanitizing of the areas under and around the o-ring and thegland surface during CIP procedures. This greater cleaning effect can beachieved by causing the piston's linear actuator to oscillate the pistonback and forth during CIP procedures thus exposing all food contactsurfaces of the o-ring and the gland to the CIP agents therebycompletely cleaning and sanitizing the o-ring and the o-ring glandsurface by the end of the CIP process.

The dispensing head assembly 22 contains a port for dispensing frozenfood product from the machine. In addition, it contains a particulatedistribution system containing one or more augers, stepper motors, andvarious drilled passageways in the dispensing head assembly 22. Theparticulate distribution system blends particulates inside the ice creamas well as on the surface of the ice cream as it is dispensed from themachine and portioned out. The dispensing head assembly 22 also containsa whipped cream portioning system which applies whipped cream either asthe ice cream is dispensed from the machine or after it has beendispensed. The dispensing head assembly 22 also contains a variegateinjection system which introduces one or more selected flavoring agents(for example, chocolate, caramel, strawberry etc.) as the ice cream isbeing dispensed from the dispensing head assembly 22. Multipledispensing heads can be mounted in series to increase the number offlavors and the amount of servings portioned out per hour in morecomplex implementations of the machine. See FIGS. 3A, 3B, 4A, and 4B forexample of such implementations.

FIG. 1G is an oblique view of the dispensing head assembly 22illustrating the details of the side and bottom of the assembly 22. FIG.1H is an oblique view of the assembly 22 illustrating the side and topof the assembly 22. FIG. 1I is a side sectional view of the assembly 22illustrating the variegate inputs, the particulate inputs, and thewhipped cream inputs. FIG. 1J is a top sectional view of the assembly 22illustrating the variegate inputs, particulate inputs, and thelubrication system for the assembly 22. As shown in these Figures, thedispensing head assembly 22 is a disc shaped element containing aplurality of radially directed passages situated around thecircumference of the dispensing head assembly. Each of the radiallydirected passages connects a variegate tube 220 from a respectivevariegate supply to the exit passage 216 in the center of the assembly22. Each of the radially directed passages contains a spring loadedplunger that selectively blocks and opens each variegate tube withrespect to the passage 216. The plungers are arranged in two layers ofplungers 221 and 222. As shown in FIG. 1J, the plungers in lower layer221 are labeled “down” and the plungers in layer 222 are labeled “up.”As also shown in FIG. 1J, and most clearly in FIGS. 1G and 1H, as oneproceeds circumferentially around the dispensing head assembly 22, theradially adjacent plungers alternate between lower and upper layers 221and 222.

Each of the springs associated with each plunger in layers 221 and 222normally biases its respective plunger toward the center of thedispensing head assembly 22 to close off the passage 216 from thevariegate tubes 219. Application of a variegate material under pressureto its respective plunger pushes the plunger outwardly against thespring and connects the variegate tube 219 to the passage 216 to admitvariegate to the passage 216 so that it mixes with frozen food productbeing extruded from the machine.

In addition to variegate materials, a plurality of different particulatematerials may be added to the frozen food product dispensed from thedispensing head assembly 22. These materials may be introduced into thedispensing head assembly 22 through one or more openings 223 in the topand side of the dispensing head assembly 22. They may be delivered tothe dispensing head assembly 22 through an auger feed driven by astepper motor. Whipped cream may also be added to the food dispensedfrom the machine. The whipped cream is applied through one or morewhipped cream input ports 224 in the side of the dispensing headassembly 22. For example, one or more of vanilla, chocolate, andstrawberry whipped cream may introduced, via three separate andcontrollable whipped cream input ports 224 and whipped cream outputports, into soft serve food product dispensed from the machine.

The structure that supplies whipped cream is shown in more detail inFIGS. 1O, 1P, 1Q, and 1R. FIGS. 1O and 1P show a first example of awhipped cream supply for the dispensing head assembly 22. The whippedcream supply comprises a closed loop flow path 300 comprising, inseries, an emulsification barrel 302, an output pipe 300 a, a positivedisplacement pump 304, a PDP output pipe 300 b, a flow-through solenoidassembly 305, and an output pipe 300 c connecting the output of thesolenoid assembly 305 to the input the emulsification barrel 302. Asource of whipping cream 301 is connected to an emulsification barrel302 by means of a line 301 a. A pressurized gas supply 303 is connectedto the emulsification barrel 302 by means of a supply pipe 303 a.

The emulsification barrel 302 mixes and whips the gas from the gassupply 303 into the whipping cream from the whipping cream supply 301 toproduce whipped cream that is output into the pipe 300 a and then intothe input of pump 304. Pump 304 pumps the whipped cream into pipe 300 band into the solenoid assembly 305. The solenoid assembly 305 has twostates, a flow-through state and a dispense state. In the flow-throughstate, shown in FIG. 10, solenoid 305 b closes off the pipe 300 b fromthe whipped cream input port 224 on the dispensing head assembly 22.

When the solenoid assembly is in the flow through state, whipped creamflows around a nipple at the end of the solenoid 305 b and flows intopipe 305 c connecting solenoid 305 b to solenoid 305 a. In theflow-through state, the solenoid 305 a is open permitting whipped creamto flow from pipe 305 c into pipe 300 c and back to the input of theemulsification barrel 302. Whipped cream thus circulates in the loop 300when the solenoid valve assembly is in the flow-through state.

When the flow through solenoid assembly 305 is in the flow-throughstate, as shown in FIG. 1P, solenoid 305 b opens and allows whippedcream to flow from the pipe 300 b to the input port 224 of thedispensing head assembly 22. In the dispense position, solenoid 305 acloses and prevents whipped cream from flowing from pipe 305 into pipe300 c. Whipped cream thus is diverted from the loop 300 to thedispensing head assembly 22.

A closed loop lubrication system lubricates the o-ring surfaces in thesolenoid assembly 305. Sterilizing lubrication is supplied from alubricant pump to a lubrication input port 306 in the solenoid 305 b.Lubricant flows around the plunger in solenoid 305 b and exits throughan output port 307 into one end of a lubricant line 308. The other endof the lubricant line 308 is connected to a lubricant input port 309 inthe solenoid 305 a. Lubricant supplied to port 309 flows around theplunger in solenoid 305 a and out an exit port 310 for delivery back toa lubricant pump.

FIGS. 1Q and 1R show a second embodiment of a whipped cream supplysystem using a flow through valve assembly similar to the flow throughvalve assemblies that selectively deliver soft serve food product fromthe loops 10 and 12 to the blending head assembly 18 described above.This embodiment uses a piston 311 screw driven by a linear actuator 312in a cylindrical passage in a pipe 313. One end of the pipe 313 isconnected to the whipped cream input port 224 on the dispensing headassembly 22. The other end is connected to the linear actuator 312. Thepipe 313 is connected to the previously described whipped cream loop 300by means of pipe 300 b connected to input port 313 a and pipe 300 cconnected to output port 313 b. In the flow through position of thevalve assembly, the piston 311 is in the position shown in FIG. 1Qextended into the input port 224. This stops the flow of whipped creamto the input port 224 and also cleans out the input port of foodresidue. Whipped cream from loop 300 is blocked from entering thedispensing head assembly 224 by the position of piston 311. Whippedcream from the loop 300 flows around the narrow waist portion of piston311 between ports 313 a and 313 b and circulates in the loop 300 as aresult of the pressure produced by pump 302. When the linear actuator312 moves the piston 311 to the dispense position shown in FIG. 1R, thepiston is retracted into the pipe 313, port 313 a is blocked from port313 b, and whipped cream is pushed into the input port 224 and out ofthe dispensing head assembly 22.

The apparatus of FIGS. 1Q and 1R is lubricated by pumping sterilizinglubricant into lubricant input port 314. Lubricant flows around thepiston 311, exits through lubricant exit port 315, and returns to thelubricant pump.

The dispensing head assembly 22 also has a sterilizing lubricationsystem that contains cross-drilled, multilevel, internal passagewayswhich create sterilizing oil lubrication for the entire dispensing headassembly 22. Lubrication holes in the dispensing head assembly create asingle pathway for multi-level lubrication of multiple layers ofvariegate plungers in the dispensing head assembly 22. All the plungersin layers 221 and 222 are lubricated by supplying sterilizing lubricantto a lubricant input port 225 shown in FIG. 1J. The lubricant input port225 is connected to a passage 226 in plunger 227. The passage 226 isconnected to a plugged hole 228 drilled into the top surface of thedispensing head assembly 22. The hole 228 is situated between tworadially adjacent plunger passages so that these two plunger passagesare connected together to permit lubricant to flow from one passage tothe next. Additional holes 228 are drilled between each pair of radiallyadjacent plunger passages so that lubricant can flow in sequence toevery plunger passage around the circumference of the dispensing headassembly 22. As shown in FIG. 1J, lubricant flows into the input port225 and then to every plunger in a clockwise direction around thedispensing head assembly as indicated by the arrows on the circular pathnoted in FIG. 1J. The lubricant also proceeds alternately between theupper and lower layers 221 and 222 as it travels from one plungerpassage to the next radially adjacent plunger passage. The lubricantexits the dispensing head assembly 22 through passage 229 in plunger 230and lubricant exit port 231.

FIGS. 1HA, 1HB, 1HC, and 1HD are sectional views of the dispensing headassembly 22 showing the internal passageways in the dispensing headassembly 22 FIG. 1HA is a section taken through the center of twodiametrically opposed variegate plunger passages in the dispensing headassembly. FIG. 1HA shows the plunger passages, variegate input ports,and variegate output ports 216 a in the side of the main output passage216. Lubricant enters the plunger passages shown in FIG. 1HA through thelubricant holes indicated in FIG. 1HA.

FIG. 1HB is a similar cross section, but it is taken along a linethrough the centers of a diametrically opposed particulate input passageand whipped cream input passage. In addition to the particulate andwhipped cream input passages, FIG. 1HB shows lubricant passages thatconnect circumferentially successive variegate plunger passages in theupper layer 222 and lower layer 221. FIG. 1HB also shows the lubricantholes that direct lubricant into and out of the plunger passages out ofand into the lubricant passages.

FIG. 1HC is a section taken through the entire upper layer 222 ofplunger passages. In addition to the entire layer 222 of plungerpassages, this Figure shows several particulate input passages, and awhipped cream input passage. This Figure also shows lubricant passagesconnecting variegate plunger passages in layer 222 to variegate plungerpassages in layer 221.

FIG. 1HD is a section taken through the entire lower layer 221 ofplunger passages. In addition to the entire layer 221 of plungerpassages, FIG. 1HD also shows several particulate input passages, twowhipped cream input passages, and lubricant passages connecting plungerpassages in layer 221 to plunger passages in layer 222.

FIG. 1HE shows a detail of the plungers used in the variegate supplysystem. One of the plungers in FIG. 1HE is one of the plungers used inthe upper layer 222 of plungers in the dispensing head assembly 22. Theother plunger in FIG. 1HE is from the layer 221.

FIGS. 1K-1N show an additional embodiment of a dispensing head assembly22 involving a system for introducing one or more additional streams ofice cream or other soft serve food product into the stream of soft servefood product dispensed through the passage 216 in the dispensing headassembly 22. This soft serve injection system can create a striped,twisted, or candy cane effect of different flavors and colors on theoutside of and around a core of single or multi flavored soft serveproduct. Dots of different color soft serve food product can be createdon a core stream of soft serve food product by stopping and starting thesecondary injection stream thereby creating a polka dot effect.Combining stripes and dots can result in a stars and stripes effect.

The additional soft serve food supply is effectuated by means of threeflow-through valve assemblies 400, 401, and 403, screw driven byrespective linear actuators 404, 405, and 406. The flow-through valveassemblies 400, 401, and 402 are connected to respective food processingand storage loops like loops 10, 12, 14, and 16 described above. Theflow-through valve assemblies 400, 401, and 402 operate like theflow-through valve assemblies 10 f, 12 f, 14 f, and 16 f described aboveto selectively admit soft serve food product from the respective loopsinto the passage 216. This can be used to introduce a ribbon of one ormore different flavored soft serve food products into the soft servefood passing through the passage 216. Although three flow-through valveassemblies 400, 401, and 402 are shown here to produce up to threeadditional streams of ice cream into passage 216, any number offlow-through valve assemblies may be used so that any number ofadditional streams of ice cream may be introduced into the ice creamflowing in passage 216.

FIG. 1L shows the piston 407 in one of the flow-through valve assemblies400 in the flow-through position which permits soft serve frozen foodproduct to flow from an input passage 408 connected to the foodprocessing loop associated with the flow-through valve assembly 404 intoan out flow passage 409 for return to the food processing loopassociated with the flow-through valve assembly 400. Passage 216 in thedispensing head assembly 22 is blocked by the position of piston 407.FIG. 1M shows valve assembly 400 in the dispense position. In thedispense position, the piston 407 is retracted by the linear actuator404 so that the input passage 408 is connected to the passage 216 in thedispensing head assembly 22. Soft serve food product is pumped from theassociated food processing loop through passage 408 and into the passage216 when the piston 407 is in the dispense position.

Anywhere from zero to three of the flow-through valve assemblies 400,401, and 402 may be placed into the dispense position to introduce asmany additional streams of soft serve food product into the passage 216as desired. For example, FIG. 1N shows all three valve assemblies 400,401, and 402 in the dispense position. Also, any number of flow-throughvalve assemblies connected to respective food processing loops may beprovided in the dispensing head assembly 22 depending on the potentialnumber of additional soft serve food streams that are desired to beintroduced into the passage 216. The flow-through valve assemblies maybe in a single circumferential layer as in FIGS. 1K-1N or in multiplelayers as space permits.

The pistons in the valve assemblies 400, 401, and 402 are lubricated bysupplying sterilizing lubricant to lubricant inputs 410, 411, and 412.Lubricant is returned to its source via lubricant outputs 413, 414, and415.

The number of flavors produced by the machine of FIG. 1 can be increasedby adding additional blending head assemblies. The capacity of themachine to produce soft serve food product can also be increased by thesame process of adding additional blending head assemblies. Twoalternatives involving the use of two blending head assemblies aredescribed below.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a two blending head assembly machine.FIG. 2 shows an additional high fat content loop 14 and an additional nofat content loop 16 feeding a second blending head assembly 30 added tothe apparatus of FIG. 1. The high fat content loop 14 comprises a closedloop series connection of a pipe 14 a, positive displacement pump 14 b,and pipe 14 c, emulsification barrel 14 d, pipe 14 e, and flow-throughvalve assembly 14 f. The no fat content loop 16 comprises a closed loopseries connection of a pipe 16 a, positive displacement pump 16 b, pipe16 c, emulsification barrel 16 d, pipe 16 e, and flow-through valveassembly 16 f. Loop 14 is connected to another blending head assembly 30by way of a pipe 14 g; loop 16 is connected to the blending headassembly 30 by way of a pipe 16 g.

Blended food product is directed from the blending head assembly 30 tothe dispensing head assembly 22 by means of a pipe 32. One or moreselected flavorings may be added to the contents of the blending headassembly 30 from a multiple flavoring supply 31 through pipe 31 a.

Although the example of the invention shown in FIG. 2 has two blendinghead assemblies, any number of blending head assemblies may be used. Insimple machines, like the one in FIG. 1, only one blending head assemblymay be needed. In more complex machines, more than the two blending headassemblies may be provided. FIGS. 3A, 3B, 4A, and 4B described belowshow examples of four and eight blending head assembly machines.

An example of what might be done with a machine like the one shown inFIG. 2 is the provision of selectable fat content vanilla ice cream inthe range of 0% to 18+% fat content from the loops 10 and 12 and theprovision of selectable fat content chocolate ice cream in the range of0% to 18+% fat content from the loops 14 and 16. Selectable fat contentvanilla ice cream alone may be dispensed from the dispensing headassembly 22, selectable fat content chocolate ice cream alone may bedispensed from the dispensing head assembly 22, or a combination ofvanilla and chocolate ice cream may be dispensed from the dispensinghead assembly 22. Other flavors of ice cream instead of vanilla and/orchocolate may be provided by the loops in FIG. 2 in otherimplementations. In yet an additional example, one or both of the highfat/no-fat loop pairs may provide an unflavored base material to whichis added one or more flavorings from a multiplicity of availableflavorings by way of the introduction of flavoring into the blendinghead assemblies 18 and 30 from one or both of the flavoring supplies 19and 31.

FIG. 2A shows a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the inventionthat is a variation of the two blending head embodiment shown in FIG. 2.FIG. 2A is the same as FIG. 2 except that the single flow-through valveassembly 10 f of FIG. 2 is replaced in FIG. 2A with two series connectedflow-through valve assembles 10 h and 10 i. The flow-through valveassemblies 10 h and 10 i are connected in series by means of a pipe 10j. The output of the flow-through valve assembly 10 h is connected tothe input of the blending head assembly 18 by means of the pipe 10 g andthe output of the flow-through valve assembly 10 i is connected to theinput of the blending head assembly 30 by means of a pipe 10 k. Theoutput of the flow-through valve assembly 12 i is connected to the inputof the blending head assembly 30 by means of the pipe 12 g and theoutput of the flow-through valve assembly 12 h is connected to the inputof the blending head assembly 18 by means of a pipe 12 k.

The FIG. 2A embodiment may be used for a situation where no fatunflavored or vanilla base material is circulated in the loop 10 andhigh fat unflavored or vanilla base material is circulated in the loop12. Selected flavoring may be added to the base materials from flavoringsources 19 and 31. Examples of what can be produced include selectablefat content soft serve ice cream having a flavor determined by theflavor added to the base material from the flavoring source 19,selectable fat content soft serve ice cream having a flavor determinedby the flavor added to the base material from the flavoring source 31,and mixtures of the flavors of ice cream delivered from blending headassemblies 18 and 30.

One way to implement a two blending head apparatus like that shown inFIGS. 2 and 2A would be to connect, in FIG. 1A, the loops 14 and 16 andthe blending head assembly 30 to the pipe containing piston 212 so thatthe loops 14 and 16 and the blending head assembly 30 on one side of thedispensing head assembly 22 are the mirror image of the loops 10 and 12and the blending head assembly 18 on the other side of the dispensinghead assembly 22.

Another way to implement a two blending head apparatus is shown in FIGS.2B-2E. These Figures show the details of an implementation involving twoblending head assemblies 18 and 30 and a single dispensing head assembly22 as in FIGS. 2 and 2A. Elements in FIGS. 2B-2E corresponding to likeelements in FIGS. 2 and 2A have the same reference numerals in FIGS.2B-2E as they do in FIGS. 2 and 2A. The blending head assemblies 18 and30 and the dispensing head assembly 22 are structured and operate in themanner described above in connection with FIGS. 1B-1D.

The arrangement depicted in FIGS. 2B-2E comprises a transfer pipe systemhaving a series of pipes that can be configured by a pistons driven by anumber of screw driven linear actuators to form a path for soft servefood product to be directed from one or more of the food processingloops 10, 12, 14, and 16 to one or both of the blending head assemblies18 and 30 and then a path from one or both of the blending headassemblies 18 and 30 to the dispensing head assembly 22 and out of themachine.

When the machine is initially in its non-dispense flow-throughcondition, the valve assemblies 10 f, 12 f, 14 f, and 16 f are in theirflow-through positions which maintains the closed-loop circulation ofsoft serve food product in processing loops 10, 12, 14, and 16. When itis desired to dispense a soft serve food product from the machine, thetransfer pipe system is configured to provide paths for all of the softserve food product withdrawn from the loops to be transferred from theloops to the blending head assemblies 18 or 30. This done on one side ofthe machine, when soft serve food product is to be withdrawn from eitheror both of the loops 10 and 12, by linear actuator 710 moving piston 510upwardly in FIG. 2B until the distal end face of the piston 510 is flushwith the bottom inner surface of the pipe 600, thereby blocking pipe 600from the dispensing head assembly 22. Linear motor 705 also retracts thepiston 505 out of the mixing chamber in the blending head assembly 18.Linear motor 708 also retracts piston 508 to a position where the distalend of the piston 508 is flush with the inside surface of pipe 600. Thisprovides a closed path from the food processing loops 10 and 12 throughpipe 600 to the mixing chamber in the blending head assembly 18. On theother side of the machine, when soft serve food product is to bewithdrawn from one or both of the food processing loops 14 and 16,linear actuator 711 moves piston 511 upwardly in FIG. 2B until thedistal end face of the piston 511 is flush with the bottom inner surfaceof the pipe 605, thereby blocking pipe 605 from the dispensing headassembly 22. Linear motor 707 also retracts the piston 507 out of themixing chamber in the blending head assembly 30. Linear motor 709 alsoretracts piston 509 to a position where the distal end of the piston 509is flush with the inside surface of pipe 605. This provides a closedpath from the food processing loops 14 and 16 through pipe 605 to themixing chamber in the blending head assembly 30.

After the transfer pipe system has been configured for one or more ofthe food processing loops to provide soft serve food product one or bothof the blending head assemblies 18 and 30, the appropriate one or moreof the valve assemblies 10 f, 12 f, 14 f, and 16 f is moved to thedispense position. Specifically, one or more of the pistons 500, 501,502, and 503 in valve assemblies 10 f, 12 f, 14 f, and 16 f is driven byrespective linear actuators 700, 701, 702, and 703 to the dispensepositions. Respective supply pipes 10 e, 12 e, 14 e, and 16 e areconnected to respective output pipes 10 g, 12 g, 14 g, and 16 g andrespective return pipes 10 a, 12 a, 14 a, and 16 a are blocked fromrespective supply pipes 10 e, 12 e, 14 e, and 16 e by respective pistons500, 501, 502, and 503 moving to the dispense position. The selectedvalve assemblies 10 f, 12 f, 14 f, and 16 f are kept in their dispensepositions until a predetermined amount of soft serve food product ispumped out of one or more of the food processing loops 10, 12, 14, and16 into one or both of pipes 600 and 605, which are directly connectedto the output pipes 10 g, 12 g, 14 g, and 16 g, and into one or both ofthe blending head assemblies 18 and 30.

When the valve assemblies 10 f, 12 f, 14 f, and 16 f are returned totheir flow-through positions connecting supply pipes 10 e, 12 e, 14 e,and 16 e with respective return pipes 10 a, 12 a, 14 a, and 16 a afterpredetermined amounts of soft serve food product have been withdrawnfrom one or more of loops 10, 12, 14, and 16, not all of the soft servefood product has entered the respective blending head assemblies 18 and30. Some of the soft serve food product from the loops remains in thetransfer pipe system and must be pushed into the blending headassemblies. This is accomplished as follows. Movement of the pistons500, 501, 502, and 503 from their dispense positions to theirflow-through positions pushes soft serve food product out of the theirrespective output pipes 10 g, 12 g, 14 g, and 16 g. In the case ofoutput pipes 10 g and 12 g, soft serve food product is forced into pipe600 and, in the case of output pipes 14 g and 16 g, the soft serve foodproduct is forced into pipe 605. Pipe 600 is emptied of soft serve foodproduct by linear actuator 704 driving piston 504 to the left in FIG. 2Buntil the distal end face of piston 504 is flush with the inside surfaceof pipe 601 and the input/output passage through the center of theblending head assembly 18. Pipe 605 is emptied of soft serve foodproduct by linear actuator 706 driving piston 506 to the right in FIG.2B until the distal end face of piston 506 is flush with the insidesurface of pipe 604 and the input/output passage through the center ofthe blending head assembly 30. Finally, soft serve food in theinput/output passage of the blending head assemblies 18 and 30 arecleared by linear actuators 708 and 709 driving pistons 508 and 509through the input/output passage until the distal end faces of thepistons 508 and 509 are flush with the bottom of the mix chambers in theblending head assemblies 18 and 30. Now all of the soft serve foodwithdrawn from the food processing loops is in one or both of theblending head assemblies 18 and 30 where it undergoes the processingsuch as mixing and flavoring described above.

Once the processing in the blending head assemblies 18 and 30 iscompleted, the contents of the mix chambers then must be directed to thedispensing head assembly 22 and out of the machine. First, the transferpipe system must be configured to provide a path from one or more of theblending head assemblies 18 and 30; paths back to the food processingloops must be blocked. This is accomplished by maintaining piston 504and/or piston 506 in the positions they achieved in pushing food productthrough pipes 600 and 605 during the process of filling the blendinghead assemblies 18 and 30. If food product is to be directed from theblending head assembly 18, piston 508 is retracted from the inside ofthe blending head assembly 18 until the distal end face of the piston508 is flush with the inside surface of pipes 600 and 602, as shown inFIG. 2C. The piston 510 is retracted to the position shown in FIG. 2B,where its distal end face is flush with the interior surface of pipe602. If food product is only sent from blending head assembly 18 to thedispensing head assembly 22, then the linear actuator 715 drives piston515 to the right in FIG. 2B until the distal end face of the piston 515is flush with the inside surface of pipe 606 thereby blocking pipe 603from pipes 602 and 606, while permitting pipe 602 to communicate withpipe 606. If food product is to be directed from the blending headassembly 30, piston 509 is retracted from the inside of the blendinghead assembly 30 until the distal end face of the piston 509 is flushwith the inside surface of pipes 603 and 605, as shown in FIG. 2C. Thepiston 511 is retracted to the position shown in FIG. 2B, where itsdistal end face is flush with the inside surface of pipe 606 as shown inFIG. 2B. If food product is only sent from blending head assembly 30 tothe dispensing head assembly 22, then linear actuator 714 drives piston514 to the left in FIG. 2B until the distal end face of the piston 514is flush with the inside surface of pipe 606 thereby blocking pipe 602from pipes 603 and 606 while permitting pipe 603 to communicate withpipe 606. If food product is to be directed to the dispensing headassembly 22 both blending head assemblies 18 and 30 at the same time,then the pistons 514 and 515 are maintained in the positions shown inFIG. 2B.

Once the transfer pipe system has been configured for delivery of softserve food product to the dispensing head assembly 22, if food productis to be dispensed from the blending head assembly 18, the push plateand the piston 505 in the blending assembly 18 are forced to the bottomof mix chamber in the blending head assembly 18 to empty the mixchamber. The piston 505 is driven beyond the mix chamber through theinput/output passage in the blending head assembly 18 to push foodproduct completely out of the blending head assembly 18 at which pointthe distal end face of the piston 505 is flush with the interiorsurfaces of pipes 600 and 602. Food product is forced through pipes 601,602, and 606 and then out the machine through the output passage in thecenter of the dispensing head assembly 22. After the blending headassembly 18 has been completely emptied, the actuator 712 driving piston512 downwardly in FIG. 2B through pipe 601 until the distal end face ofpiston 512 is flush with the inside surface of pipe 602 pushes all ofthe soft serve food product out of pipe 601 and into pipe 602. Linearactuator 714 then drives piston 514 to the left in FIG. 2B until thedistal end face of piston 514 is flush with the inside surface of pipe606. This pushes the soft serve food product out of pipe 602 and intopipe 606, either because piston 515 is blocking pipe 603 or the streamof food product flowing to the left in pipe 602 in FIG. 2B meets anotherstream flowing to the right in pipe 603 from the blending head assembly30.

If food product is to be dispensed from the blending head assembly 30,the push plate and the piston 507 in the blending assembly 30 are forcedto the bottom of mix chamber in the blending head assembly 30 to emptythe mix chamber. The piston 507 is driven beyond the mix chamber throughthe input/output passage in the blending head assembly 30 to push foodproduct completely out of the blending head assembly 30 at which pointthe distal end face of the piston 507 is flush with the interiorsurfaces of pipes 603 and 605. Food product is forced through pipes 604,603, and 606 and then out of the machine through the output passage inthe center of the dispensing head assembly 22. After the blending headassembly 30 has been completely emptied, the actuator 713 driving piston513 downwardly through pipe 604 until the distal end face of piston 513is flush with the inside surface of pipe 603 pushes all of the softserve food product out of pipe 604 and into pipe 603. Linear actuator715 then drives piston 515 to the right in FIG. 2B until the distal endface of piston 515 is flush with the inside surface of pipe 606. Thispushes the soft serve food product out of pipe 603 and into pipe 606,either because piston 514 is blocking pipe 602 or the stream of foodproduct flowing to the right in pipe 603 in FIG. 2B meets another streamflowing to the left in pipe 602 from the blending head assembly 18.

When food has been cleared from the pipes 602 and 603, linear actuator716 drives piston 516 through pipe 606 until the distal end face of thepiston 516 is flush with the inside surface of the exit passage throughthe center of the dispensing head assembly 22 to clear pipe 606 of foodproduct. When this operation has been completed, a linear actuator 717drives a piston 517 through the output passage of the dispensing headassembly 22 to clear the last of the soft serve food product from thedispensing head assembly.

It should be pointed out that all of the pistons in these embodimentshave o-ring seals at the distal ends of the pistons. These o-rings sealthe pistons to the entire inside circumference on the passages and pipesthrough which they travel. This prevents food from getting past thepistons when they perform their blocking functions and this also servesto wipe food from the inside surfaces of the pipes and passages throughwhich the pistons travel. The pistons also contain o-ring seals thatprevent lubricant and food from mixing.

The number of flavors and/or the capacity of the machine to produce softserve food product can be increased by increasing the number of blendinghead assemblies beyond the one or two blending head assemblies describedthus far. The potential number of variegates and mix-ins that may beadded to the soft serve food product from the machine may be increasedby increasing the number of dispensing head assemblies in series at theoutput of the machine. Any number of blending head assemblies and/ordispensing head assemblies may be used. The number actually used isdetermined by the results sought to be achieved.

FIG. 3A shows an example of a machine having four blending headassemblies. The machine of FIG. 3A comprises a no fat content foodprocessing loop containing a series connection of a PDP pump, anemulsification barrel, and four flow-through valve assemblies. Themachine of FIG. 3A also comprises a high fat content food processingloop containing a series connection of a PDP pump, an emulsificationbarrel, and four additional flow-through valve assemblies. Each of thefour flow-through valve assemblies in the each of the two loops isconnected to one of four blending head assemblies each having its ownsupply of multiple flavorings. The outputs of the blending headassemblies are connected to a series connected pair of dispensing headassemblies. One of the dispensing head assemblies is like those shownabove in FIGS. 1I or 1K. The second dispensing head assembly is used toincrease the number of variegates able to be added to the soft servefood product dispensed from the machine.

FIG. 3B shows an alternative arrangement of implementing a four blendinghead machine. In FIG. 3B, each blending head assembly has its own foodprocessing loop, but is otherwise the same as the machine of FIG. 3A.

FIG. 4A shows an example of a machine having eight blending headassemblies. The machine of FIG. 4A comprises a no fat content foodprocessing loop containing a series connection of a PDP pump, anemulsification barrel, and eight flow-through valve assemblies. Themachine of FIG. 4A also comprises a high fat content food processingloop containing a series connection of a PDP pump, an emulsificationbarrel, and eight additional flow-through valve assemblies. Each of theeight flow-through valve assemblies in the each of the two loops isconnected to one of eight blending head assemblies each having its ownsupply of multiple flavorings. The outputs of the blending headassemblies are connected to a series connection of three dispensing headassemblies. One of the dispensing head assemblies is like those shownabove in FIG. 1I or 1K. The second and third dispensing head assembliesare used to increase the number of variegates able to be added to thesoft serve food product dispensed from the machine.

FIG. 4B shows an alternative arrangement of implementing an eightblending head machine. In FIG. 4B, each blending head assembly has itsown food processing loop, but is otherwise the same as the machine ofFIG. 4A.

All surfaces in machines in accordance with the principles of thisinvention, including flow-through valves, pistons, transfer-pipeelements, blending head assemblies, and dispensing head assemblies, thatcome in contact with food can be subjected to clean-in-place (CIP)procedures in accordance with the CIP procedures set forth in the twopatent applications noted above.

Some examples of frozen food compositions, such as ice cream, that canbe produced by a machine like the one described above include:

1. Single flavor (for example, vanilla);

2. Two Flavors (for example, vanilla and chocolate); Vanilla andchocolate side by side or in a twist;

3. Layer of vanilla and a layer of chocolate (layering);

4. Layers of ice cream and whipped cream (parfait or mousse);

5. Marbleized flavors, such as vanilla and chocolate;

6. Two flavors on top of each other (like scooped ice cream);

7. An Extra Light and creamy concoction in all butter fat levels (moreoverrun gas incorporated into mix in the blending head);

8. Ice cream soda concoctions;

9. Injected streams of ice cream (striped or twisted like a candy cane)injected into and on the outside of the central stream of ice cream asit is being dispensed; and

10. Dots of different color soft serve food product can be created on acore stream of soft serve food product by stopping and starting thesecondary injection stream thereby creating a stars and stripes effect.

All of the above products can be made with any or none of thevariegates, particulates, whipped creams, sodas, ice cream injectors,variable butter fat contents of the ice creams as well as in an ExtraLight mode.

1: Apparatus for dispensing a soft serve frozen food composition,comprising: a first source of soft serve frozen food composition; asecond source of soft serve frozen food composition; a blending headassembly connected to the first and second sources of frozen foodcompositions that selectively blends a frozen food composition from thefirst source with a frozen food composition from the second source; oneor more sources of flavoring connected to the blending head assembly;and a dispensing head assembly connected to the blending head assembly.2: The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a source of overrun gasconnected to the blending head assembly. 3: The apparatus of claim 1,further comprising a source of carbonated beverage connected to theblending head assembly. 4: The apparatus of claim 1, further comprisinga source of variegate material connected to the dispensing headassembly. 5: The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a source ofparticulate material connected to the dispensing head assembly. 6: Theapparatus of claim 1, further comprising a source of whipped creamconnected to the dispensing head assembly. 7: The apparatus of claim 1,further comprising a secondary source of soft serve food productconnected to the dispensing head assembly, the secondary source of softserve food product being arranged to inject a secondary stream of softserve food product into a stream of soft serve food product from theblending head assembly flowing through the dispensing head assembly. 8:The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a configurable transferpipe system that connects the first and second sources of soft servefood product to the blending head assembly and connects the blendinghead assembly to the dispensing head assembly. 9-12. (canceled) 13: Theapparatus of claim 8, further comprising first and second flow-throughvalve assemblies that selectively admit soft serve frozen foodcompositions from the first and second sources into the transfer pipesystem. 14-19. (canceled) 20: The apparatus of claim 1, in which thedispensing head assembly comprises: a plurality of passages eachconnected to a source of particulate material to be added to soft servefrozen food product dispensed by the dispensing apparatus; a pluralityof passages each connected to a source of variegate material to beselectively added to soft serve frozen food product dispensed by thedispensing apparatus; and a plurality of passages each connected to asource of whipped cream to be selectively added to soft serve frozenfood product dispensed from the dispensing apparatus.
 21. (canceled) 22:Apparatus for dispensing a soft serve frozen food composition,comprising: a first source of soft serve frozen food composition; asecond source of soft serve frozen food composition; a first blendinghead assembly that selectively blends a frozen food composition from thefirst source with a frozen food composition from the second source; asecond blending head assembly that selectively blends a frozen foodcomposition from the first source with a frozen food composition fromthe second source; a dispensing head assembly; and a transfer pipesystem connecting the first and second sources to the first and secondblending head assemblies and connecting the first and second blendinghead assemblies to the dispensing head assembly.
 23. (canceled) 24: Theapparatus of claim 1, in which the soft serve frozen food compositionfrom the first source has a first fat content; and the soft serve frozenfood composition from the second source has a second fat content. 25:The apparatus of claim 22, in which dispensing head assembly isnon-collinearly located with respect to the first and second blendinghead assemblies.